SG Morning Highlights | Singapore's Q1 GDP growth likely slowed, complicating central bank's task

Advancers / Decliners is 58 to 65, with 90.71 million securities worth S$72.97 million changing hands.

Federal Reserve economists were projecting a "mild recession" when the US central bank decided to further raise interest rates last month, according to the minutes of the meeting published Wednesday.

"The staff's projection at the time of the March meeting included a mild recession starting later this year, with a recovery over the subsequent two years," according to the minutes.

Members of the Fed's policy-setting committee voted unanimously last month to raise its benchmark lending rate for a ninth time in just over a year, the minutes showed, as they sought to balance curbing high inflation and averting further banking sector upheaval following the rapid collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

Singapore's economy is likely to have expanded at a slower pace in the first quarter, posing a challenge for the central bank as it seeks to balance containing persistent inflation with efforts to shore up weakening growth.

Preliminary data due on Friday (Apr 14) is seen showing gross domestic product (GDP) expanding 0.6 per cent in January-March from a year ago, according to the median forecast of 19 economists in a Reuters poll, due to the weaker external demand.

The city-state's economy expanded 2.1 per cent year on year in the fourth quarter of 2022.

US consumer prices barely rose in March as the cost of gasoline declined, but stubbornly high rents kept underlying inflation pressures simmering, likely ensuring that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again next month.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed 0.1 per cent last month after advancing 0.4 per cent in February, the Labor Department said on Wednesday (Apr 12).

In the 12 months till March, the CPI increased 5 per cent, the smallest year-on-year gain since May 2021. The CPI rose 6 per cent on a year-on-year basis in February.

This year's Singapore Prestige Brand Award (SPBA) was launched on Wednesday (Apr 12), kickstarting the search for the country's most inspiring brands.

SPBA seeks to recognise deserving local brands for their success, and to help them achieve growth at home and abroad.

This year's theme, "Celebrating Creativity, Courage & Confidence", was chosen as it takes creativity to innovate, courage to act, and confidence to keep pushing the boundaries and stay on course, said Chew Lee Ching, chairman of the SPBA 2023 organising committee, in a press release.

The bourse regulator noted that in the same period, the Straits Times Index climbed 21.11 points or 0.6 per cent.

It said that between Mar 1 and Apr 11, Digilife Tech's share buybacks contributed to about 70.6 per cent of the stock's buy volume. In that period, the stock's share price rose S$1.08 or 60 per cent, from S$1.80 to S$2.88.